Caving To Anti-Social Media

Tweaking "The Man," Tweet By Tweet

Criticism can pack a lot of power when consumers use Twitter, Facebook or YouTube to launch social media campaigns to protest something a company is doing.

Recently, Gap caved to complaints about its new logo, after thousands of its Facebook fans protested the switch from the iconic blue denim box to a new kind of look... Sun Chips found itself forced to pull its eco-friendly, but extremely loud bag from store shelves... And who can forget the (damaged) case of “United Breaks Guitars,” when a Canadian country musician created a YouTube video to protest United Airlines baggage handlers smashing his axe... Something usually reserved for rockers.

“Anti-social media” is a growing trend on sites where there's also a reaction to the character changing co-opting of creeping corporatism.

140 Characters & Out Audio Embed: BBC, PRI & WBUR's Here & Now 10/25/10, Host: Robin Young & communication professor John Carroll